Virus: United States recommends avoiding China, WHO declares international emergency - France 24

Beijing (AFP)

The United States has ordered its nationals not to travel to China, where the death toll from the new coronavirus increased on Friday to 213 dead, while many countries were tightening their precautionary measures in the face of an epidemic declared international emergency by the 'World Health Organization (WHO).

Washington has raised its alert level to the highest level by recommending late Thursday "not to go" to China due to the viral pneumonia epidemic in the country, while cases of local contamination are increasing worldwide.

After a meeting a few hours earlier in Geneva, the WHO, previously criticized for its procrastination, declared that the epidemic of the new coronavirus constituted "a public health emergency of international scope".

Chinese authorities reported 43 new deaths in 24 hours on Friday, the death toll now stands at 213. The number of infected patients approaches 10,000 in mainland China (excluding Hong Kong and Macao), exceeding that reached during the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic in 2002-2003.

International precautionary measures are intensifying: Tokyo asked its nationals on Friday to avoid unnecessary trips to all of China. Russia has closed its border with its neighbor, and restrictions - notably visa suspensions for Chinese visitors - are tightening in Asia.

Italy and Israel have announced that they will suspend all flights from China, while more than 15 airlines, including Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa, have suspended flights to the country.

However, the WHO warned on Thursday that restrictions on the movement of people and goods during a public health emergency could prove "ineffective", disrupt the distribution of aid and weigh on the economies of affected countries.

- Chinese returnees -

In China itself, the metropolis of Wuhan (center) where the new coronavirus appeared in December, has been cut off from the world since February 23, as has the surrounding province of Hubei - a cordon cordon prohibiting some 56 million inhabitants from 'get out.

However, Beijing sent two planes on Friday to repatriate some 200 Hubei residents from Thailand and Malaysia, respectively, and return them to Wuhan, according to the Chinese Civil Aviation Authority (CAAC).

Conversely, following the United States, Japan and South Korea, several countries continue to organize the evacuation of some of their nationals trapped in Wuhan.

A French plane took off on Friday morning, shortly after 07:00 local time, to repatriate some 200 French people. "There is sadness to leave a country to which we are attached. And then relief, because we do not know how things will turn out in China," Adrien, 26, told AFP. evacuation.

A second flight is planned later this week to evacuate other French nationals and nationals of other European countries.

Also on Friday, a plane chartered by the United Kingdom to repatriate British and other Europeans took off from Wuhan with 110 people on board. India has also sent a plane to repatriate some 300 of its nationals.

Other countries - Italy, Germany, Canada and even Bangladesh - plan their own operations.

In Wuhan, which has the appearance of a ghost town, the circulation of non-essential vehicles is prohibited, hospitals remain overwhelmed and thousands of foreigners remain without certainty of being able to leave.

"I have the impression that (the Thai government) does not care about us. I could starve, be infected and die," said Aphinya Thasripech, a Thai woman in her thirties pregnant on Thursday.

French returnees will be quarantined for 14 days in a holiday center and the British will be isolated on a military base.

- Human-to-human transmissions -

"Our greatest concern is the possibility that the virus will spread to countries with weaker health systems," said WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday.

Many countries are not ready to face the epidemic, also warns the Supervisory Council for Global Preparedness (GPMB), an international supervisory body based in Geneva

Especially since human-to-human transmissions are increasing outside of China, recorded in Germany, Japan, the United States and France.

In the United States, the husband of a sixty-year-old woman who contracted the virus in China was also infected, bringing the number of cases to six in total. In France, a sixth case of infection has been announced: a doctor infected by a person who returned to China.

In Italy, no case was finally detected among the 7,000 passengers of a cruise ship confined on board Thursday. But the country then declared two cases, those of two Chinese tourists.

Across China, where the Lunar New Year holidays are extended until February 2, frightened residents desert shops and restaurants, while villages barricade themselves behind wild dams.

People from Wuhan face suspicion everywhere, while overseas, Chinese communities report an increase in discriminatory attitudes towards them.

The impact of the epidemic on the world economy will depend in particular on its duration, warned the International Monetary Fund, while many Chinese companies and factories will remain closed until February 9 at least.

© 2020 AFP